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Saturday, November 28, 2015

Butterbeer Cupcakes (#thebookclubcookbookCC)

Welcome to another month of The Book Club Cook Book Cooking Crew! This month Erin from The Spiffy Cookie is hosting and she chose Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone. I was absolutely thrilled when I saw that Erin chose this book because the Harry Potter series is one of my favorite book series and I've been so intrigued by the idea of butterbeer and other edibles from the books.

I was introduced to these books in high school and have been hooked ever since! I used to babysit my art teacher's children and her daughter insisted that I borrow her Harry Potter books and read them. Honestly, I had absolutely no interest in reading them. I didn't know what the books were about and I didn't want to read a kid's book, but I couldn't disappoint my teacher's daughter, so I read the book and was instantly pulled into the books! I devoured them and tried to get my family and friends into them as well. One of the things I love about the Harry Potter series is that it really got kids excited about reading again, which I think is wonderful.

I really struggled decided what to make for this month's selection. I wanted to try the treacle tart that Erin featured, but I also wanted to try the very much talked about butterbeer. From my understanding, butterbeer didn't appear in this book but I couldn't help myself and had to try a butterbeer recipe.

I finally chose to make these Butterbeer Cupcakes, which has a butterscoth flavoring. I liked this recipe because it is thoroughly infused with butterscotch! It has a butterscotch filling, a butterscotch buttercream frosting, and is drizzled with additional butterscotch. I know it could sound like overkill, but it all really works wonderfully. I didn't make many changes to this recipe except that I decided to add rum extract to the cake and the frosting. I feel like it helped to brighten the flavors a little bit and it isn't too strong. Everyone I gave these cupcakes to fell in love instantly.

If you like butterscotch or love the Harry Potter series, I hope that you will give these cupcakes a try! They are fun and decadent!

Also, please check out the wonderful bloggers below who are participating in The Book Club Cook Book Cooking Crew and see what they have created this month. You can also follow this project on social media with the hashtag #thebookclubcookbookCC. We'll be posting all of our creations to our Pinterest board. Here's the team, in alphabetical order with links to their homepages.

This month Erin at The Spiffy Cookie, this month's host, is giving away a copy of the book.* Enter to win a copy of the cookbook so you can join us in future months, if you wish!

One of our lucky readers - US and Canada only! - can enter to win a copy ofThe Book Club Cookbook, Revised Edition: Recipes and Food for Thought from Your Book Club's Favorite Books and Authors by Judy Gelman and Vicki Levy Krupp, courtesy of Tarcher-Penguin. Giveaway runs from November 1st till November 30th at 4 o'clock PM, Pacific time. Please see terms and conditions in the rafflecopter widget below. Many thanks to Tarcher Books. You may find Tarcher: on the web, on Facebook, on Twitter, and on Pinterest.

a Rafflecopter giveaway*Disclosure: Erin received a complimentary copy of The Book Club Cookbook, Revised Edition: Recipes and Food for Thought from Your Book Club's Favorite Books and Authors by Judy Gelman and Vicki Levy Krupp as an opportunity to give a copy away. Opinions are our own. We received no further compensation for our posts.

For the Cupcakes:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a cupcake tin with 18 baking cups.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla extract and butter flavoring.

Fold in 1/3 of the flour mixture, then the buttermilk, 1/3 of the flour mixture, cream soda, and then the remaining flour. Folding in these ingredients will prevent over-mixing and will result in a fluffier, less dense cupcake.

Fill cupcake liners 3/4 of the way full and bake for 15-18 minutes, or until the cupcakes are golden and spring back when touched. Cool completely before frosting.

For the Butterscotch Ganache:
In a small saucepan on medium heat, melt the butterscotch chips into the heavy cream, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature before using.

For the Butterscotch Buttercream Frosting:
In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter until light and fluffy. Mix in the butterscotch ganache, vanilla, butter flavoring, and salt. Beat in the powdered sugar for 2-3 minutes, starting with 3 cups and adding more only if necessary. Add the cream a tablespoon at a time until desired consistency is achieved (I only needed 1 tablespoon).

To Assemble:
Pour butterscotch ganache into a plastic squeeze bottle. Stab the tip of the bottle into cupcake and fill each cupcake with butterscotch ganache until it starts to overflow.

Fill a pastry bag with butterscotch buttercream and pipe onto the top of each cupcake. Drizzle on the butterscotch ganache.

3 comments:

I think all of us thought butter beer as soon as the book was announced and then sighed a heavy sigh when we realized it wasn't introduced yet. Your cupcakes sound heavenly and would fit perfectly in the hogwarts feast.